Sometimes it’s amazing to think how far our babies have come! Sometimes it’s amazing to think how blessed we are as fans and CS shippers. Sometimes I’m still delightfully amazed remembering that this woman
and this man
Not only found each other and let each other tear down their respective walls, but fell in love
got married
and are going to have a baby,
and we’re going to see that baby, the physical manifestation of their love, in just three days.
One of my absolute fav things about 3B is when Killian’s lips get cursed, and he just abruptly stops flirting with Emma, and she picks up on it immediately and decides that something is wrong, so in order to try and fix it, she starts flirting with him instead, and Killian gets SO. FRUSTRATED. Like, of course she would start flirting with him when he’s trying to distance himself from her for her own protection. The poor guy, lol.
Not just that.
Like, he stops to protect her and you can see it grates on him. This is the man who spent a year or more pining after this woman and finally – FINALLY!! – she’s back in his life and he gets to start wooing her again. Or at least pull her pigtails and tease her to get her mind off of how worrying everything is.
And then he has to stop.
But yeah, Emma notices. She notices when he backs off, when he withdraws and becomes grumpy and she’s like “??????????? what did I do, nothing in my demeanor has changed–OH NO DOES HE NOT LIKE ME ANYMORE” and all but flicks a paper football at his head that, when unfolded, reads “do u like me, check y/n” and there’s only “y/y” options. She flips it on him when he stops because SHE THINKS MAYBE HE’S LOSING INTEREST AND GIRL LIKES BOY BUT GIRL DOES NOT LIKE FEELINGS BUT FEELINGS =? BOY?????????? emma!bot broken, please uninstall Feelings 2.0
and then. THEN!!!!!!!!!!!! she’s flirting with him and he’s???????? “Gods DAMN IT ALL SWAN WHY NOW” not realizing that BECAUSE THEY AREN’T COMMUNICATING (in an actual amusing and good use of miscommunication) THEY WOULDN’T HAVE THIS PROBLEM.
They’re on the world’s angstiest see-saw made of the purest pine.
A couple days ago I posted my favorite Snowing teamwork moment and mentioned how being separated by realms didn’t stop them …
That brings me to my favorite CS Teamwork moment … Episode 5×21 ‘Last Rites’ we see what happens after Emma has to leave Hook behind in the Underworld. He has to find a way to move on and she knows he can’t do that until Hades is defeated.
So they work together. Across realms … without knowing if they will ever see each other again.
Everyone is telling Emma that she needs to step back and grieve …
The whole episode unfolds with Emma in Storybrooke and Hook in the Underworld but they are working perfectly in sync. Hook and Arthur go on a quest to find the missing pages and when they succeed Hook knows that Emma will get them…
The storybook opens to the pages that Hook put in the book and Emma knows that the message came from him. True Love really is the most powerful magic … it can transcend realms.
I know he has the crystal
Hades is defeated and Hook just knows. The immediate threat is gone and he can do what he promised and move on.
Emma is also preparing to move on by saying goodbye.
But the gods have other plans for them … Zeus sends Killian back to her … back where he belongs and their reunion is one of the most emotional in the history of the show.
Just like her parents, Emma has had her love make the ultimate sacrifice for her and then had him brought back to life. The two of them can face everything together, even when they are apart.
Emma was upset. So scared she almost lost him. And she told him, she finally opened up and told him why she’s keeping him distant. And then he reassures her that he’s gonna be okay, and he’s not gonna go anywhere. And he makes her smile. She feels better, and just to make sure she does, he moves in and kisses her. Because this is his girl. And he can’t bare to see her sad. And he’s gonna be there every time she needs someone. To wipe those tears away, and put a smile back on her face.
“Captain Hook was a pirate, living by his own code, never caring for anyone around him. That is, until he became captivated by the savior, Emma Swan. Her initial dismissal of him forced him to take a look at himself and find something in him that Emma would be attracted to. It turns out, Emma didn’t really change anything about Killian Jones, but her feelings for him unlocked the loving and heroic side of this one-time villain who eventually stole her heart.”
Not only is this kiss visually stunning (I’d say it’s the most aesthetically pleasing CS kiss), it is also the definitive proof that Emma and Killian are each other’s safe haven. It doesn’t matter what they’re going through – as long as they are together, they will always have their love to push their demons away.
Oh my gosh, I LOVE that scene, thank you for making me rewatch it.
This is probably the most tangible scene of the show where we see Emma’s “walls” crumbling and her letting Killian in to see something of her that she’s kept locked away. We see that literally, since it’s a box of childhood mementos she’s actually kept locked away and we can readily believe she’s not shared this with anyone before, at least to this extent. He’s the first, he’s the only.
This scene was hugely significant and I love that Killian recognized the hallowed ground that he was treading on and he respects it. He’s tender and sweet and very careful with her. She’s making herself vulnerable to him in a brand new way and he knows it and is so concerned about how she’s feeling.
Now, on to the photo of Neal. He was smiling when he pulled out some of her other belongings, the glasses especially, but when he gets to the photo of the two of them his smile falters, and we see the tension in his jaw. I think there are a couple of layers here. First, when he sees the photo I think he feels an immediate pang in his gut over Neal’s death. This is probably the first and only photo he’s seen of Neal since his death, remember Killian had a relationship with him too.
However, as is always the case, Killian immediately thinks of Emma. I think Killian looks to her to make sure she is okay, seeing the photo of someone lost not so very long ago. In the timeline of the show it’s only been a couple of weeks since Neal died. So I think he’s mostly checking in with her to make sure it’s not all too much.
As for Emma, I think her initial glace at Killian is not really about any residual grief she has, she’s already completely emotionally raw, I think she’s checking his reaction. In this moment, she’s vulnerable, she’s showing him her past, warts and all, (Neal is definitely a wart) and wondering what his reaction will be to this reminder of her most formative and significant romantic relationship (for good or for bad) prior to him. Will he be jealous? Will he look disconcerted or upset? Will he judge her?
Of course he’s not doing any of those things, he’s only concerned that seeing a photo of herself happy with Neal will add to her current emotional “vexation.”
I think the brief look they exchanged leaves them both satisfied in their concerns. Killian sees that she’s not freshly upset, Emma sees that Killian isn’t taken aback by seeing this reminder of her past. Plus I think there is an acknowledgment between them that they both feel his loss.
As for her blink and look away, I think it’s a signal that she had no interest on dwelling on Neal, he’s not what her current emotional upset is about. So once she’s satisfied Killian’s not having a negative reaction, she decides to change the subject, as it were, by taking out her baby blanket and starting to sift through the other box.
I think this entire exchange was an important illustration that there aren’t secrets between them regarding Neal. They both know each other’s history with him and accept it. A beautiful scene top to bottom.
At a basic level, yes! However, there is so much going on with their dynamic in Neverland that it’s really more complicated than that.
The thing we see with Emma all throughout 3b is her slowly awakening to the fact that Captain Hook, the iconic pirate and villain, is actually sincere when it comes to her and his feelings for her and he doesn’t have any ulterior motives.
In 2×22 he was free, sailing away, but he comes back and brings not only the very valuable magic bean she needs, but offers his ship and his services. Emma needs all three of those things, desperately, so she doesn’t stop and question his change of heart too thoroughly, she accepts it, however her guard is up with him. She’s got to be wondering what his game is, what’s in it for him.
Through the first few episodes of 3a we see him be a constant for her. He accepts her leadership without question, he defers to her, he supports her, he’s a rock for her in ways that even her parents are not.
She is so fixated on saving Henry, that I don’t think she puts a lot of thought into it. However, I think she likes his presence, she likes the way he makes her feel, she likes the support. She realizes what they learned on the beanstalk adventure, that they make quite a team, is true. It begins to niggle at her that she’s becoming vulnerable to him, all while she doesn’t really know his motivations, and there are several scenes where we see her bristle at his overtures, while other times she accepts his help, support, attention without question.
I wouldn’t blame Emma for potentially thinking he’s just about wooing her for sex, he’s clearly attracted to her, he’s made that obvious since the beanstalk and from her perspective it’s the easiest thing to grasp onto and explain his turn around and actions. Especially for someone who doesn’t feel worthy of love. Poor Emma has NEVER had anyone make a sacrifice for her, she’s never felt worthy of someone making a sacrifice for her, especially a romantic partner, she’s never really had anyone do anything for her just because they wanted to ease her worry/pain. So why would a known villain, a pirate, be any different?
In that vein, I also think she’s worried that his presence might have nothing to do with her and he might have his own agenda and he’s using her to achieve it. So my guess is she HOPES that he’s there because he’s after her romantically, because that is a lot easier to deal with than if he’s there still for his revenge or for other nefarious pirate reasons.
So, thinking he’s there to woo her is the easiest path, and since she has never had a romantic partner genuinely be there for her, it’s easy for her to write him off as not being sincere or trustworthy. So thinking it’s just about sex is the easiest thing to process, and at that point in the story she doesn’t really have time to think that through. ‘Cause really, why would any man go back to a place he swore he’d never go again, where he was stuck for a century, in order to face the demon who practically enslaved him, for a roll in the hay? Especially when said man is objectively one of the most attractive man on the planet!? Boyfriend doesn’t need to go to this much trouble for sex.
In this scene I don’t think she is explicitly thinking “you are trying to get me into bed and it’s not going to work.” I think it’s more abstract than that, because she hasn’t thought it through. He’s wooing her, offering comfort and support, and she doesn’t think he’s sincere. However, check her out:
Look at the way she gazes at him. I think part of her wants to believe he’s sincere, but her walls and the situation won’t even allow her to consider it. So she shuts him down, rather harshly. Shuts everything down, whether it be his quest for sex or something deeper, or perhaps her biggest fear which is that he’s bonding with her to use her for some piratey purpose down the road. However, this scene serves as a nice bookend to the final scene of them in the episode. I’m of course referencing the iconic first kiss.
By the end of the ep Emma’s lightened up considerably, which in part is due to the success she had reaching Henry, plus news of Killian saving her father’s life, and she’s more in the mood for him. JMo said at a con that in this moment before the kiss Emma didn’t think she was in any danger of it meaning anything. I agree with that. Emma thought her walls would protect her and she was sure he wasn’t getting through, partly because she didn’t really believe he was sincere in wanting to get through her walls.
She was cocky, and thought she could handle him. Turns out she couldn’t, thankfully, and we see the shift in their relationship from here on out. After the kiss, she’s still not remotely convinced he’s fully sincere and trustworthy, but she realizes there could be something real there on both their parts, which serves as an interesting turning point in their relationship.
All in all her rejection of his bonding overture was a very telling scene and set up one of the most important CS scenes of all time and a huge jump in the relationship.
From an audience perspective the greatest reason to love
them is that Captain Swan is 100 episodes of slow-burn, epic, romantic true
love story-telling that incorporates the most fantastical fairy tale imagery
and hits almost every milestone on the way to a very fulfilling and satisfying happy
beginning.
Sure there’s drama and heart-rending angst on the journey,
but it’s mostly free of the nonsense many shows resort to like break-ups and third-party
love interests to keep it interesting. Emma
and Killian get together and they stay together and the show managed to keep
their story interested and us invested.
For me what makes a ship, shippable is chemistry, there has
to be a spark in the writing, but mostly there needs to be electricity on
screen between the performers. Jennifer Morrison
and Colin O’Donoghue sizzle on screen together. They are a natural fit, and
work miracles together. Plus, neither is hard to look at.
As for why I think the characters are a perfect match, I
think it’s because fundamentally it’s a story of a lost girl and a lost boy who
find each other and then would go to the ends of the world or time for each
other.
To me it’s so beautiful that Emma, who grew up alone and without
love, found the one man with an almost endless, selfless capacity to love. That’s one of the greatest things about this
story, from very early on there is zero doubt of the hero’s feelings for the
heroine. Killian Jones was in deep and
devoted to her from their trip to Neverland on and he never wavered, he never
doubted, he was content just to be there for her until she was ready. For Emma, it’s a story of a woman who is so
beaten up by life that she’s almost completely closed off to living it, however
when she meets a man filled with darkness she is still able to be his light. Killian inspires Emma to open up and trust,
and Emma inspires Killian to leave the darkness and redeem himself and together
they are their best selves.
And isn’t that what True Love is all about? A love that
inspires them to be their best selves?
For Captain Swan everything came together to create lightening
in a bottle. Actors, chemistry, characters and story. It doesn’t happen often, but in this case, all
those things together created a perfect match.
The pancakes scene single-handedly saved season 6b from the
scrap heap.
I think what makes that scene so special is that is has EVERYTHING (sensing a theme here.) It’s the domestic scene that CS fans were asking for all
year. There should have been more, but
at least when the show delivered, it DELIVERED.
I can’t watch this scene without grinning from ear to ear through the
whole thing. “Intimate bubble” is a
great way to describe it. Actually, I
think because of the intimacy of the moment, this is my favorite part of the
scene:
Killian coming up behind her and nuzzling her sweetly showed us a part of their relationship we hadn’t really seen before. It was such a sweet,
tender intimate moment, where we see all the love and affection between them.
My heart. However, it morphs quickly, and that is what is so great about this
scene. In just a few minutes it shows us so many different facets of their
relationship:
FUN – This scene is just plain fun. Emma and Killian are
playful with one another and having fun with one another. The audience sees how much they enjoy their
life in that house together. Something as simple and routine as making
breakfast has them bantering and enjoying just being around each other.
FLIRTY – Captain Hook is flirting with his fiancé! “Something
smells delicious” Oh, you, sexy scoundrel, Killian. It’s the first glimpse in a
long time of them being both at ease and putting in the effort to romance the
other. We all know how much Killian
loves Emma, and how attracted he is to her, but it was nice confirmation that
he hasn’t dropped his flirting and innuendo just because they are fully committed.
SEXY – This scene lets us see both characters as we’ve never
seen them before, and it’s sexy. Emma’s in Killian’s bathrobe! Did I mention Emma was wearing what had to be
Killian’s bathrobe? Plus her hair is all
wild and free like they just spent all night going to town. Killian is already showered
and dressed but still in process. He looks relaxed and casual and, yes, sexy. Then with one sensuous cheek nuzzle from
behind, those two crazy kids single-handedly turned pancakes into the sexiest
food around. The whole scene was
charged. With sex.
PASSION – This scene goes from fun and flirty (and sexy) to
HOT in a matter of seconds. As CS fans
we never wanted for steamy make-outs on screen, but this reminds how fast they
can get their motors revving. They are downright hungry for each other. It also
showed how sexually attracted Killian and Emma are to one another in the quiet
moments. Their lives are so Adrenalin-fueled
and emotionally-heightened by life-or-death situations, that I’m sure that
partly fuels their passion. This scene starts
as a soft moment, and they still can’t keep their hands off each other. It’s nice to know that their passion comes from just being in the presence of the other, and not just from all that Adrenalin and
life-or-death emotion.
AFFECTION – This goes hand in hand with all of the above,
but this scene shows us how much they like each other. From Killian nuzzling
her from behind to Emma’s consoling/comforting arm caressing when they are unceremoniously
interrupted. Killian and Emma are both
so open and expressive with their adoration.
No walls here.
FUNNY – I don’t know about you, but I wanted to strangle Snow
for interrupting them, but it was also hilarious. From Killian finding out his mother-in-law
has a key (who that’s entrusted with a key uses it when the inhabitants are at
home!?! Did she even knock first? That is just bad form) to Killian needing a “bracing
shower” there are some great giggle-worthy moments in this scene.
HEART – While the scene starts playful and then roars right
to passionate, we also get a beautiful heartfelt moment where they confess how
happy they are to each other. Happiness
has been an elusive prospect for these two, for their entire lives, but how
beautiful that even when Emma’s under mortal threat, and there are still
villains out their gunning for them, they are still just… happy. And they can express that to one another. If that doesn’t tell you how right these two
are for one another, nothing will.
cshappybeginning 